Scapegoat
by Moose Voose
Summary: To lose a brother hurts. Then to have him and his best friend nearly kill you for their selfish benefit is even worse. This would be the first and last time Regulus Black played scapegoat.


**Scapegoat**

**By: Barbara Manatee**

**Authors Note: **You'll notice of the genres I put this in was angst. There isn't much of it, quite honestly, but I couldn't exactly put it in humor! Actually, this was a really hard one-shot to place. XD It's only my third, actually, but really satisfying. I actually imagined it in the middle of the most boring teacher's lecture; "Regulus...you make a find scapegoat." I almost burst out laughing right there. But, of course, there were dangerous consequences. Let us all remember that it's not funny to allow somebody to take the blame for our actions. At all. Now, before that? That can be hilarious. But when you let somebody take the fall for you, how good can you really be?

**Scapegoat**

**-someone who is punished for the errors of others  
>-A person, group, or thing that bears the lame for the mistakes or crimes of others<br>-the practice of singling out one child, employee or member of a group of peers for unmerited negative treatment or blame. **

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><p>A ten year old Regulus Black was being smothered in sheer awesomeness.<p>

Before now, he'd always thought that was Sirius; he seemed to be one step ahead of Regulus, always. He was the pampered heir, and everyone seemed to like the Black's eldest, albeit quite mischievous, son. Regulus hadn't bothered to be jealous. It was just a bit too tender for him. If he thought about it, he knew he would get jealous-painfully so.

When Sirius went to Hogwarts, that made him just that cooler. The fact that he was a Gryffindor was openly scorned among Pure-Bloods, but Regulus, personally, didn't see what the big deal was. A House was where you belonged; so what if he didn't fit in among the often sneaky and sometimes cruel Slytherins? Regulus would rather die than admit it, but he wasn't as biased as his mother would like against muggleborns and halfbloods.

When Sirius came home for the summer, he'd seemed distant to Regulus; he rarely went to dinner without a fight ("It's bloody ridiculous the way you dress me in a suit to eat three courses of dishes I _hate_!") and he altogether boycotted Pure-Blood parties. He also didn't seem to want to hang out with his little brother. Regulus felt the loss keenly; before, Regulus had always been Sirius's partner in crime. Instead, Sirius skulked around the house, obviously longing for Hogwarts.

When Regulus found that he had been replaced by James Potter, he was insanely jealous. He had been abandoned for a boy who needed pieces of glass right in front of his eyes to see properly! What did this James have that he didn't?

Then, one beautiful August day, James Potter came for a visit.

The second Regulus saw him, he decided that his jealousy was completely unfounded. Who cared about Sirius when there was this awesome boy who had not only been to Hogwarts, but was cool. He was taller than Sirius, of course, ("like a stick") and he had this broad, proud grin that Regulus found himself trying to imitate desperately in the mirror. (He ultimately decided that he'd best leave the smiling to the Potters and the smirking to the Blacks) And the way he ran, arms flailing just a bit, gasping obnoxiously for air his fit body obviously didn't need...

Regulus was sure that James Potter was the coolest person in existence.

Of course, then Sirius typically shoved Regulus away, telling him to go play with his dolls or bake some cookies away from him and his best friend.

Wounded, Regulus made his way to the kitchen. He did hear James say, "He doesn't _really _play with dolls, does he?" Regulus wanted to die of humiliation.

It was three hours before he saw James again. Regulus was sitting in the parlor, counting bricks on wall, when James and Sirius, laughing hysterically ran into the room. Regulus stood on reflex, and wanted desperately to know what was so funny.

"She's going to kill us," Sirius gasped between laughs.

"So...worth...it..." James gave that same broad grin that Regulus, as usual, desperately wished he could copy. Suddenly, James's eyes met Regulus's. James was eerily silent. "Unless..." He got up and walked to the wide-eyed Regulus. He put his hand on Regulus's shoulder. "Regulus..." James began, eyes wide with sincerity. It was the kind of sincerity you see when a doctor is informing you of a loved one who has just died, and says, "I'm sorry for your loss." Regulus felt honored beyond belief to experience that kind of sincerity that was emanating off of James. "You make a find scapegoat."

Regulus had no idea what a scapegoat was, so he beamed. "Really?"

Sirius snorted. "James, really, he never acts out-he's a terrible scapegoat."

"I am too a good scapegoat!" Regulus snapped viciously at the brother who had abandoned him.

"Alright, well, prove it!" James smiled. "Stand tall, right here." He pointed at the middle of the room. Regulus followed the instructions exactly. "Now, when your mother comes in here, declare, 'I regret nothing!' Is that clear?"

"Stay right here until my mother comes in, and tell here 'I regret nothing'," Regulus repeated.

"With feeling!" James urged.

"I regret nothing!" Regulus declared.

"Perfect!" James smiled. "Now, if anyone asks, Sirius and I are out flying."

"Right," Regulus said. He was starting to get jealous again. James was leaving to focus attention on his dumb brother-again!

But soon he was left standing alone when his mother, absolutely livid, stormed into the room. Her beady eyes searched the room and ultimately landed on Regulus. Eager to play his part, he declared, "I regret nothing!"

"You..._wicked boy!_" She ran forward and snatched his wrist and began to drag him out of the room and out into the shed; a place where Regulus and Sirius were beaten for misbehavior as children. She tore of his shirt and tied him down to the cement floor. Regulus was trembling with fear, a cold sweat breaking out over his skin. James Potter wouldn't have sentenced him to his death, would he?

When the whip cracked, all in the Black Estate heard Regulus's screech of agony. He was whipped seventeen times before his mother was satisfied. She left him tied to the ground, restrained and in unbearable pain, for the rest of the day. No food or water. It was only lying there on the dirty shed floor that he remembered what a scapegoat was.

As he lay, crying in that warm, dank shed, he felt his heart encased in bitterness. He thought of James Potter, who was probably having a blast with _his _brother. The brother who had left him to take the fall for their prank. Regulus berated himself. Why had he allowed himself to be so stupidly vulnerable? He had trusted in his brother, and in a true Black manner, his brother had made sure that it came back to bite him. As he lay in bitter agony, he hated them. He hated those so-called Gryffindors who had unleashed this horrendous pain on him that he didn't deserve. He had been lonely, and, like true Slytherins, they had taken advantage of him.

Innocence is a beautiful thing. Everyone is kind and nobody hates you. But as soon as that fragile innocence is swept away in the common cruelty of the word, perhaps our eyes open too wide. It takes a long time before we look to the world with hope. But once innocence is lost, some never heal. Some would rather hurt and hate as they believe they had been hurt and hated. They fancy themselves a realist when they are cloaked in pessimistic views. Sirius Black had recovered beautifully from his lost innocence. He went on to be one of the greatest factors in the life of the Boy Who Lived. Regulus was left to rot and find his own way. He didn't find it until it was too late.

Regulus had been betrayed and hurt by no other than the most famous and beloved of that era. James Potter, father of the boy who lived, ultimately started Regulus Black on his path to destruction.


End file.
